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Delivery has become the next great adventure for many in the Fast Casual space, and Dickey’s is no exception. As aging Millennials with a good share of economic buying power demand convenience, restauranteurs are adapting to provide them with their food where they want it and when they want it.

At Dickey’s, an entire department is dedicated to building our off-premise sales to ensure we are meeting the needs of our guests. In addition, significant resources have been activated to build the technological infrastructure, operational guidelines and standards for Dickey’s Delivery experience. As any CEO will tell you, launching any systemwide initiative that impacts how guests enjoy and experience our barbecue comes with its own set of challenges, which is why I always come back to the key reason we decided to launch delivery.

On any given week, there is a night Laura and I opt to stay in and have our dinner delivered to our home. We’ve had positive and negative experiences, favor certain packaging types over others and continue to have robust discussions surrounding what type of food we’ll be ordering. There is a key component of our delivery evaluation that always solidifies a positive delivery from a poor delivery: the consistency between the delivery experience and the in-restaurant experience. In other words, do I feel the same way about my meal eating it in the comfort of my own home as I would dining in the restaurant?

The focus on experience, and for us, the experience of good barbecue, is what I believe has differentiated barbecue delivery from all others. When you eat Dickey’s Texas-style barbecue, you expect to smell the hickory smoke, taste the tenderness of the brisket, see mouthwatering proteins and sides, hear country music in the background and perhaps wash it down with an ice-cold beer. While we can’t control what our guests hear at home, we can ensure they have the best barbecue delivery experience that touches all their other senses.

That’s why we’ve taken to asking our guests “Our place or Yours?” when they order. Authentic barbecue shouldn’t be limited to our stores because the experience should be available to anyone, anywhere. I look forward to delivering in 2019 bringing Legit. Texas. Barbecue. to families at our place or theirs.